INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT

Red Rice/Hóng Mǐ 紅米

Whole-grain red rice — rice that keeps its red bran layer,
simmered in Chinese home tonics to nourish the spleen and build blood. (Not red yeast rice.)

FORMULA ROLE

Why LunarSip uses it.

Red rice gives LunarSip's Five Reds Energy Tea its mellow, toasted body. In Chinese home tradition, red foods are simmered together to rebuild colour and energy, and red rice is the grain that makes the soup feel nourishing rather than merely sweet. In this 6-ingredient blend, it grounds the sweetness of red date, longan and brown sugar, joins goji berry in nourishing blood, and pairs with beetroot to give the cup its deep red colour.

Red rice grains (Hong Mi) – LunarSip Chinese herbal tea ingredient

HOW IT'S USED

The red whole grain of the Chinese tonic kitchen.

In Chinese food tradition, Hóng Mǐ — 紅米 — is whole-grain rice that keeps its red bran. Like other red foods, it is cooked into porridges and sweet soups to strengthen the spleen and nourish blood, and roasted red rice gives teas a mellow, toasted body. It is a food, not an herb — and it is not the same as red yeast rice (紅麴米), which is a fermented product.

In modern research, pigmented rice bran is studied for proanthocyanidins, dietary fiber, and antioxidant activity, which are largely lost when rice is polished white.

THE EVIDENCE